For those who keep a close eye on the Push.ca video department, Kyle Desaulniers' skating might be familiar since he won the Vancouver Is Awesome / éS / Push.ca video contest. When you see Desaulniers skate, it doesn't take long to recognize that he's naturally talented. I first met him on a C1RCA Canada camping trip to Vancouver Island in summer '07 (appeared in SBC Skateboard, #9.4 / '07), when he was a quiet and slightly awkward 16 year-old who started the trip off right with the first banger. A year later, I traveled with him once again on the ‘08 C1RCA Canada Okanagan trip (appears in Concrete, #96 / ‘08). This time, I saw that his personality and skills had developed substantially since the last road trip. I managed to get him on the phone recently, while he was out wrangling groceries, and we spoke about things like switching to a Canadian board company, being on the road, and independent livin'.

Vitals
Age: 17
Residence: East Vancouver
Sponsors: C1RCA footwear, Kitsch skateboards, KR3W apparel, Westbeach, Ogio bags, and Independent trucks.
Music: "Daft Punk and Bonobo, that always gets me stoked to go skate."
Stance: Regular
Switch mongo push, or regular switch push?: "Regular switch pusher. I actually can't stand it when people push switch mongo [laughs]. Mongo in general is kinda wack."

What was the scene surrounding your winning video for the Vancouver Is Awesome video contest?
It had to be filmed in one week, and you had to wear these coloured shoelaces in the footage so they could tell you weren't cheating or whatever. There was no predetermined plan - we just went out and skated. My and my friend Kyle Gherman woke up super early everyday and just filmed all day for a week straight. It turned out pretty good. I won 500 bucks, but they still haven't sent it—I don't know if they're going to [laughs].

Why did you choose to roll with Kitsch rather than attempting to go the distance with a US-based board brand?
I was getting boards from Toy Machine through Ultimate Distribution before, but I just felt like [Geoff] Dermer could give me more as far as trips and stuff like that go. The Toy Machine thing didn't seem like it was going anywhere—I was getting lots of photos and stuff, but the only thing they could really give me was boards. There was no money for trips or anything like that. Everyone at Ultimate is super sick, but I just feel like I'm better off with Kitsch—it's really original, I know all the riders, and the boards are quality and skate really good. It's also a local company, and I'm down for that.

What's a highlight skate trip you've been on in the last year?
Definitely the Kitsch Montana trip in late September - it was so sick. There were tons of virgin spots that no one's seen or heard about. I was able to go to spots and do what I wanted to do rather than what hadn't been done. Missoula and Billings were really fun. The locals were shredders that you don't really hear about at all. Hangin' with all the bros was super fun, and we got a lot of sh*t done. It was with Cory Wilson, Geoff Dermer, Sascha Daley, Brian Caissie shooting, and Dane Collison filming. The story and photos are coming out in a Color magazine article.

What are your plans for the rain?
I'm glad you asked. We're planning a trip to Barcelona with Kitsch for probably a month or two, which I'm so stoked on. Then I might go to Cali as well with Jordan Mayfield to skip the bad Vancouver weather. I've been to London a few times to visit my mom, but I've never been to Spain.

For a young dude, you've had a pretty independent living situation...
My mom moved away to London, England, and I had the choice to go live with my dad in Cloverdale, BC, or go live on my own—so I chose that. My mom's been super supportive and has always helped me out until I was able to get a job and pay my own way. I was doing on-line school, but I put that on hold for a bit so I can concentrate on skating. This past year, in Vancouver, I was living with Kevin Wu, Nelson Conway, Stash [Will Durie], Mike Vince, and Andrew Koronovich, who's a photographer.

Where was your first skate photo published and what do you like to skate?
It was a frontside flip down the UBC 14 in Color magazine for an issue that came out in August ‘06, and Dave Christian shot it. At the time, I was riding for this clothing company called Delinquency, and the whole team just got together one day and went to UBC to skate. I think I did it in under 10 tries. I'm stoked that I got it quick, because that's a tall set and jumping sucks [laughs]. I've been skating a lot of tranny lately. But anything works for me, like ledges and whatever's around. I get in the jumping mood, too. That's pretty much it. All I do is skate.

Click here to see Kyle's skating in C1RCA Camping Curse—a web video from a road trip through BC's Okanagan in summer '08, brought to you by C1RCA Canada.

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Related:
On The Horn with Magnus Hanson
On The Horn with Ryan Decenzo
On The Horn with Sascha Daley